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Blank canvas recipes: New idea, new page

While pattering about my day job, I was thinking about an online discussion I had last month. Celebrity Gordon Ramsay (Not 'Ramsey' people, that's a different man entirely) was asked in an 'Ask Me Anything' about five things he thought everyone should be able to cook.

I was rather happy that I can pretty much do all five (pretty much because I don't do a lot of braising, though I do use a slow cooker for some of Xander's lunches) and do so without wheat or milk. But the discussion became interesting when someone said they'd make burgers more often if they could flavour the chicken or pork patties to resemble beef.

"Why do that? Why not make twists inspired by the meat you're using?" I asked. "Why not a sweet and sour pork burger with red pepper and pineapple for salad or a pesto chicken burger with rocket, mozzarella and sundried tomato in a ciabatta?"

Skip a month to today, and thinking about it I realised that I don't remember a lot of recipes boasting themselves as a 'blank canvas', a springboard on which the budding cook can put their own stamp on it.

So, starting with the first on Ramsay's list, home made burgers, I'm going to, on top of my overall goal of archiving successful delicious wheat and milk free food, I'm going look into perfecting these blank canvases. Yes, they'll be bland and unassuming on their own, but that's the point, these are recipes that are not meant to end there, they are here for you to add your own thing to, fruit, desired veggies, sauces, go nuts (pun intended).

With all this said, I think I know the perfect place to start, home made burgers. I'll be working on this tonight, since that is actually the menu I have in mind for us.

4 stalks of lemongrass, tops and bases trimmed and outer leaves removed250g caster sugar4 eggs200g butter, softened (I used sunflower spread)125g desiccated coconut125g plain flour2tsp baking powder
For the syrup: 75g sugar75ml waterlemongrass trimmings
Preheat the oven to 170 Celsius (325 Fahrenheit) or Gas mark 3.
Line a deep 23cm diameter baking tin with baking paper
Thinly slice the lemongrass stalks and put in a food processor with the caster sugar. Run the mixture until the lemongrass is pureed and fragrant
Add the eggs, butter and coconut, mix until combined.
Sift the flour and baking powder and add to the mixture, mix until just combined
Tip…

Sift the dry ingredients together. Beat the egg into the milk and pour the mixture into the mixing bowl bit by bit.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and lightly coat it in butter. Use a tablespoon to drop the batter into the pan, careful not to put them close together in case they spread out. Turn them over when the top appears porous and leave for a moment before taking out of the pan and putting on a plate. Best served while still warm.

I mentioned this briefly on Twitter, my landlord's handyman came in yesterday and fixed the oven, but before I reveal what happened, let me remind you what prompted me to call in the professional on this.
When I used the oven, I realised there was a strong smell, like fish, coming from it. I cleaned it thoroughly with oven spray, let's just say it needed that, but the smell remained.
Pattering around on the Internet I came across a thread on netmums wherein one user, Jodie, suggested the smell is a sign of failing electrics and to get them checked. This actually made sense because while the hob is gas my oven is electric. I called my landlord and switched it off at the mains, using matches for my hob so no one forgot to turn it back off.
So yesterday, while I was already at work, the handyman arrived. Xander went to work before he could look at it, but what it boiled down to was the plug had shorted. So he cut the burnt off bits, installed a new plug and reassembled the device…